Effects of rolling and hot pressing on mechanical properties of boron carbide-based ceramics

A study of hot pressed B4C-based laminates, after rolling and without rolling, has been performed to elucidate the existence of fracture resistance/crack length anisotropy induced by this processing technique. While the crack lengths/fracture resistance was affected significantly by the presence of the residual stresses in B4C/B4C–ZrB2 laminates, no differences in Vickers crack lengths were observed in B4C/B4C laminates prepared by rolling and hot pressing, as compared to the crack lengths seen in pure B4C ceramics prepared by hot pressing without rolling. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed that no texture has been formed during the rolling and hot pressing of B4C ceramics.